Kaaren Brooks

Functional & sculptural pottery

I am a local artist from Seabeck, WA. My mother encouraged my love of art and “getting my hands dirty” in clay. Throughout the years of working at a “real job” I have taken various courses and classes, attended lectures and workshops, read numerous books, and viewed countless “how-to” videos and have developed my love of clay into a self-supporting “hobby.” I make a wide variety of functional, wheel-thrown/slab-built and artistic hand-built pottery.

My functional pottery is made from two types of clay. One clay body is a mid-range fire porcelain clay. The second clay body is a smooth mid-range fire red clay. I choose to make classic forms of a repetitious nature and then embellish with various decorating methods that enhance the applied glaze. Glazes are chosen with the dishwasher, microwave and being food-safe in mind.

My artistic hand-built pottery is made from paper-clay, a clay body that is mixed with paper which provides a forgiving medium for sculpting, attaching, and carving.

All three clay bodies are initially fired to a cone 06 temperature range to vitrify the clay and prepare it for receiving final glazing at a temperature of cone 5-6 which is a degree range of 2124 F to 2232 F.

The exception to the above-described process is my alternative-fired lidded and non-lidded horsehair vessels. They are made from the mid-range porcelain clay which has received an application of terra sigillata at the bone-dry stage, been buffed or burnished by various methods, and then initially fired to cone 08 (1728 degrees). The final firing is generally to a temperature of 1200 degrees when it is then pulled from the kiln and horsehair and then sugar are immediately applied to the surface in that order. The piece then cools, is cleaned, and then waxed to preserve the sheen of the terra sigillata and the horsehair/sugar decoration.

Price Range: $ – $$$